Substantial problems are encountered in the handling and igniting of solid fuels in small pieces or lump forms, such as, for example, charcoal briquettes which are compressed from solid carbonaceous fuel in powdered or finely divided form. Charcoal, one of the solid carbonaceous fuels, is widely used in lump or briquette form as a fuel for grills, barbecues and the like, cooking equipment for broiling, barbecueing and grilling. However, charcoal and other carbonaceous fuels in lump or briquette form have the serious disadvantage when used as a fuel of being extremely difficult to initially ignite in order to obtain combusion thereof sufficient for the fuel to burn to the desired more or less flameless bit of coals or embers required for grilling, barbecueing or other broiling purposes.
For example, with charcoal in lump or briquette form, it is necessary to employ some form of kindling or liquid igniting fuel, such as benzine, kerosene, methylalcohol, and the like, in sufficient quantity to burn for the necessary time to ignite the charcoal which is thereby raised to the point of self burning. With the use of kindling or starting fuels, it is difficult to time the igniting of the charcoal and the combustion thereof to the point where the desired fire is established for properly and satisfactorily grilling and broiling thereover. The use of the liquid fuels has resulted in injury due to flashing and flaming up of the highly volatile substances therein, and generally results in a smoky flame. Additionally, nitrates, nitrites and nitrocelluloses and other easily ignited materials combined with the hereinabove mentioned liquid fuels to assist in the ignition thereof have caused undesirable pyrotechnic effects. All of the prior art materials tend to pollute the air.
Charcoal and similar carbonaceous fuels in lump or briquette form present a further serious disadvantage from the standpoint of transportation, storage and distribution thereof, as well as in handling thereof by the ultimate user as a result of the relatively porous and soft characteristics of such fuels. Such characteristics are of particular disadvantage in bulk handling, transportation and distribution thereof, for dust and soot accumulates therefrom in the containers or carriers resulting, in some instances, in the spontaneous combustion and ignition of the mass of fuel. The soot or dust problems have been of particular problem to the retailer or seller of such fuels to the ultimate consumer. Such retailer merchants have had a reluctance, even when the fuel is bagged and packaged in conventional packaging form to sufficiently stock such packaged fuels because of the space requirements and the difficulty of stacking or placing them in a position readily available to the customer, particularly as a result of the inevitable soiling or sooting of the packages as a result of handling. Consequently, retailers keep only a small supply of such package fuels.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,986 to the instant applicant, there is dislosed a process for preparing an instant starting briquette impregnated with a compound slected from the group consisting of trioxane and tetraoxane with a combustion supporting material which is a solid at ambient temperatures such as disclosed in the prior art, resulting in an improved instant charcoal briquette which could be stored for indefinite periods of time wihtout losing its kindling capabilities, as well as substantially eliminating the problems inherent with the handling of charcoal briquettes, per se. The instant charcoal briquettes as disclosed are safe to use and clean to handle.
However, it was found that, while the improved charcoal briquette had improved shelf life, that extended shelf life could only be realized by the use of a combined packaging system including thermoplastic liners or outer layers, a moisture and vapor-proof barrier.